ichthyomancy means divination interpreting the appearance and behaviour of fish. A form of augury. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “ichthyomancy” is a great word
ICHTHYOMANCY — [Noun] The practice of divining the future by interpreting the appearance, behavior, or entrails of fish. From the Ancient Greek ἰχθύς (ikhthús, "fish") + μαντεία (manteía, "divination"). Unlike augury, which reads the flight of birds, or haruspicy, which inspects the viscera of mammals, ichthyomancy seeks its omens in the silent, alien world beneath the water’s surface. It is the frantic silver thrashing in a bucket read as a sign of imminent war; the intricate, bloody map of organs laid upon a river stone; or the vacant, silvered eye of a carp staring up from the depths—a testament to the human compulsion to find meaning in the most fluid and fleeting of signs.
noun
- Divination interpreting the appearance and behaviour of fish. A form of augury.
- Divination interpreting the entrails of fish. A form of aruspicy.